Pueblo South boys basketball hires Shannan Lane as head coach

Austin White Sports Reporter @ajw_sports

Friday

May 8, 2020 at 12:42 PM

There will be a new leader of the South High School boys basketball program next year.

But it won’t be an unfamiliar face.

The Colts announced the hiring of Shannan Lane as the new boys basketball coach, a year after stepping down from coaching the Colts’ girls team to their third consecutive state championship game appearance.

“I just want to praise South High School, and I know I’m biased,” Lane, a former player, assistant and head coach at South, said. “I have to praise them just in hiring me and for this unique chance to hire a female to coach boys.”

The hiring of Lane is believed to be the first female boys basketball head coach in the history of Pueblo high schools.

As for Colorado, Lane joins a list that features only about 10 other names, according to CHSAA assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann.

“You see nowadays, females coaching in the NBA or even refereeing in the NBA,” Lane said. “This is a smaller scale, but it’s a different challenge and unique, but it’s exciting at the same time.”

Lane’s run with the girls team was one of the best in Pueblo history across all sports as she finished with a 241-52 record over her 11 years as the head coach.

South won the 2013 Class 4A state title, made five Final Fours and either won or tied for the South-Central League title nine times with Lane leading the way.

Seven of the 11 teams Lane coached at South finished their season with at least 20 wins and the Colts made it to the Sweet 16 of the Class 4A state tournament all 11 seasons.

Having that pedigree already established at South made for an easy hire.

Big hire for @SouthColts as Shannan Lane has been named boys basketball coach. She last coached for the South girls where she took the team to the state championship game in 2019. @CHSAA @RhondaCHSAA #copreps

— Daniel Mohrmann (@DanMohrmann) May 6, 2020

“I knew when we hired her she had to be one of the very few (female head boys coaches) in the state of Colorado that have ever done it,” South athletic director Jarrett Sweckard said. “I think the exciting thing with her and her coaching is she builds a family atmosphere, she builds a culture. She’s definitely capable when it comes to Xs and Os about basketball and knowing the game.

“At South High School, we want to be good at whatever we do. I definitely think Shannan gives us that edge coming in.”

Lane initially stepped away from coaching the game because she wanted to spend more time with her family and her sons that are getting older.

With the South job opening up, her oldest son Ryan set to be a freshman at South next year, and the desire to make the switch to boys, Lane felt the timing was right.

The South boys basketball program has had major success as well throughout the years, including state titles in 1995 and 2001.

The Colts most recently qualified for the Final Four back in 2018 when they were the No. 1 overall seed in the Class 4A bracket.

In the two seasons after, the Colts have gone 12-35 overall under previous coach Gabriel Ziegler, qualifying for the 2019 playoffs as the last team in the field with an 8-16 record.

However, with most of the starting lineup from the 2019-2020 team featuring sophomores and freshmen, Lane will have the chance to help guide the Colts’ youngsters back into a powerhouse.

“She’s got some talent coming back,” Sweckard said. “Under her tutelage, under her coaching experience and with what she does and how she coaches, I think they will be fine and I think they’ll do a good job next year.”

Lane was able to make her introductions to the team Friday through Google Hangouts, something she’s become very familiar with as she is helping home school her younger son in third grade and also teaches fourth graders from home due to the coronavirus pandemic.

That will be the extra challenge in front of Lane as she will be entering into her first season with many question marks remaining about how much physical coaching she’ll be able to do over the summer and fall.

“Everybody says all the coaches are on a level playing field and nobody is getting to see their athletes, but they forget the first-year coach is not on a level playing field,” Lane said. “Everything’s new so it’s going to pose a different challenge.”

Until then, Lane plans to assess what skills and talents her new team possesses and will plan accordingly.

Just like any great coach would do in the eyes of Lane.

“People will ask me what my philosophy is or what I like to do,” Lane said. “I can tell you what I’d like to do, but it’s not always what you like to do, it’s what you have.

“I think that’s what makes a great coach is they assess what they have, they change their philosophy from year to year depending on what they have and they try to set up their kids to win. I have to assess these boys and see what we have.”

Chieftain sports reporter Austin White can be reached by email at awhite@chieftain.com or on Twitter https://twitter.com/ajw_sports

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